The sweet taste of oil money and the politics of unification of the two Sudans

From the bush as a rebel to president by surprise was indeed a cultural shock to the primary four president of South Sudan who rules by decrees.
Having tasted the sweetness of the oil money that was meant for the development of the new nation, his entire government plunked into looting the country in a rampant corruption with absolute impunity.

Absolutely, they embarked on enriching themselves at the expense of the ordinary populace to the extent that they clearly lost the vision to lead the new nation.

Being intelligent enough, General Bashir and his Khartoum regime wickedly chased the opportunity and held South Sudan hostage on its own oil in the hands of the weak system in Juba, which is characterized as rotten to core.

Bashir would like to see that those hardliners in Juba that are opposed to his dirty games are relieved from their duties. Indeed the game is working for General Bashir as long as the South Sudan oil continues to flow through Sudan Kiir will remain a yes-man and can not object to any of Bashir’s demands otherwise the oil will be shut down.

In the past, Khartoum has been complaining that some officials in the government of South Sudan were supporting the rebels SPLM-N, but they never implicated Kiir. The accusation was nothing but a strategic move to dismantle the system in Juba.

Undoubtedly, Bashir knew that Kiir is a weak person who can easily be manipulated. Moreover, Bashir also knew that the likes of Dr. Riek Machar and Pagan Amum are not easy people to temper with. Bashir also took the opportunity of the wrangling in Juba and convinced the yes-man to remove the two (Machar and Amum); and that indeed happened.

You may recall that recently Kiir issued a useless decree to pardon Dr. Lam Akol for no apparent crime committed, but was it really Kiir’s initiative to pardon Dr. Lam Akol?

The answer definitely is “no”, it is Bashir’s initiative to make sure Dr. Lam is reinstated.

Who actually is Dr. Lam Akol to General Bashir in the first place? Dr. Lam Akol is the guy who disagreed with Dr. John Garang in 1991 and in 1997 signed the Fashoda Peace agreement with Khartoum and later in March 1998 Bashir appointed him Minister of Transportation.

After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement – CPA, in 2005, Dr. Lam Akol was again appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of national unity.

However, in October 2007, the SPLM withdrew from the Khartoum government on protest that Akol be removed from his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as he was accused of favoring Bashir’s biased policies towards the government of South Sudan.

Incredibly, as of the date of this article, arrangements are already in place for Dr. Lam Akol to return home from his self exile in Egypt; and who knows what position he has been promised by Kiir.

However, it will not be a surprise to soon see Dr. Lam Akol back in Juba as a second vice president or any other significant position just to execute Bashir’s plans as dictated on Kiir.

For those who followed the politics of Sudan and South Sudan closely could witness the fact that these days Bashir is bossing-up with provocative rhetoric that the year 2013 is the end of the rebellion in Sudan.

Clearly, Beshir is not proud for nothing, but because he is sure hundred percent that he is now in control of both Sudan and South Sudan, as such he is sending the signal to the rebels that he is now capable to crash them from all directions.

Some of you might have come across the allegations that these days Beshir is actually trying hard to negotiate with Kiir for a confederation; and some die-hard SPLM supporters ruled it out as a conspiracy theory.

However, we shouldn’t be taken by surprise given Kiir’s recent submissive behaviors.

President Kiir is aware that even his own party doesn’t like him any more and that South Sudanese are already fed up of him. So, come the year 2015 he has nowhere to go whether there is an election or not.

So, he is now playing dirty political game of messing everything up by dragging the South back into union with the regime in Khartoum for him to have at least a shelter to hide in.

This is the game that Bashir is badly looking forward to, so that he could use it in turn to spit on the Western Governments who supported the secession of South Sudan and to discredit them that he was always right to conclude that Southerners are unable to rule themselves.

For South Sudan, it is unfortunate that if we don’t stand up now, we will soon find that we are deeply dragged back into square one; and the sacrifice made during the longest civil war and the referendum that gave us our right would mean nothing as was the case of the innocent lives lost in Panthou (Heglig) as a result of wrong decisions.

32 Comments

where in the world did you came up with all this info?
first of all not in a million years will the South-North be united, and also you mention Dr Reik Machar and Pagan as uneasy to temper with, but Machar when he disagreed with Garang he ran to Khartoum, the same with Lam Akol, i never heard that Kiir ran to Khartoum, so please get your info right without misleading the people

Dear, Gor Makooi and to Collins Kepa
Hi
Mr, Collins, your features and analysis have seemed good record on history core. We the generation era of this newly nation struggle live, there no any irrespectively who so and so. Those as Garang, Pagan, Riek, Lam, and Salva all were accord like any ordinary south sudanese male/female.

Absolutely, if we would like to waste our times at moment we initially concentrating along side political on the ground under Salva Kiir, if these politics will be emerged our people future as contaminant, hazardous, or unfit for our nations.

Indeed, there is nothing tangible in the analysis of Mr. Kepa, he has just written his mere speculations, it is not even imaginable that in just two years, south Sudan could reunite again with Sudan, and for your information, President Kiir is the only living founder of the SPLM/SPLA, and he has never ever deserted the liberation struggle to join Khartoum regime any time for easy sellout of the just cause of the south Sudanese people under the pretext of cheap accords signed with some of the leaders who deserted the movement at the time.
therefore, Dr. Riek Machar, Pagan Amum or Dr. Lam are not the right alternative leaders to President Salva Kiir now and in the future, it is better for you, Mr. Collins, to concentrate in what you are doing in Canada and leave the people of South Sudan and their leaders alone. thanks

There nothing so tangible about Mr. Kepa analysis, he is just speculating, how comes can south Sudan just in a matter of two years reunite again with Khartoum, President Salva Kiir is the only living SPLM/SPLA founder, he never ran to Khartoum under whatever harsh conditions the liberation struggle was encountering at the time, Pagan, Riek or any leader from the SPLM echelon is an accomplice to any failure if any, not President Kiir alone, simply because they all were there and they were living in another planet so that they be taken for an alternative for President.

info is great
I don’t agree with Gor comments that machar ran to khartoum, machar has done so much in our struggle for independence. just because he is not Dinka that why he hasn’t got a credit for it. he came up self determination which led us to independence which kirr never thought of or Garang. for south sudan to get independence was machar ideas but john stole them all ideas. we need to say thank you to machar.

collin or what ever you called yourself, i assume you are not a South Sudanese for writing this barbaric articles and also you never knew before who is Salva Kiir Mayardit. for your information, Salva Kiir was one of those who were seriously fighting for the separation of South Sudan and that is why we achieved our independence. Kiir may be weak somewhere but not compared to yourself.
you are just a bunch of those stooges who ran away during war time and now talking nonsense. Sudan and South Sudan will never never unite again even if Jesus comes.

Splendid, rich, succinct and articulative piece. However, if your reading of the greater Sudanese politics is correct, and having seen what these “liberators” under Kiirdith and co., and their Western accomplishes are capable of after the Southern independence, I would not mind being dragged back into Khartoum’s enslavement.
At least under Khartoum, South Sudanese were united and for the most part have been spared from Southern self-inflicted heinous atrocities such as in Jonglei State and elsewhere. Greed, arrogance and ignorance of the so-called “liberators” was concealed, land grab never to be heard of, nepotism could only be seen on those who got their butts stamped with the word La illah ila allah, and corruption was and as should be alien to the traditional South Sudanese culture.
Perhaps it’s a lesser evil to live under the roof of Khartoum’s subjugation, especially with the amply evident Southern political leadership syndrome and lack of statesmanship under the SPLM regime. As I have always maintained, our true liberation is yet to take place!

I agree with you, mate. how on earth people disagree with you on this article? This is fact about kiir, he has fails to run the country, of course, beshir saw failure from kiir face so he has reason to make political move to see if we say that want to unite sudan. and machar is tough guy beshir would not even try him if he is in power. Beshir, he was just doing that because kiir is soft guy and not educated enough to know what he is trying to do.

Mr. Collins,
Thank you very much for your excellent analysis, but I might disagree with the notion not yours but the thinking of Kirr that South Sudan may one day reunite with old Sudan- this will never happen unless heaven and earth came together. It was not your concern, but a concern raised by some South Sudan intellectuals about Bashir-Kirr relation.

For those who are asking where did you got this information-How about the remarks made by one of the South Sudanese spokeperson acknowledging that some Juba officials in the previous cabinet acted as impediments to developing relations with Khartoum.
He goes on, “There were parties in the government of South [Sudan] that hindered the evolution of the relationship between the north and south in the past,” the spokesman for the Embassy of South Sudan Deng Gabriel said in an interview with the pro-government Ashorooq TV on Sunday and quote.
“The new government is very good and is fulfilling the purposes of relations between the two countries,” Gabriel added.
Brothers and sisters, the future of South Sudan is very bleak with Kirr being a president. I came to conclude that politics is a dirty game. Who can believe that one day Kirr-Bashir relation will be like what they are today after Bashir call South Sudanese Insects- Bashir got what he wanted by manipulating Kirr to giving up Abyie with nothing in return.

But I give Machar credit for standing up for the people of Abyie while our president shamefully standing down. Machar is a smart politician and I have a feeling that one day Machar is going to be the president of South Sudan. I was a little bit reserved about Him- but I begging to like him. If elections were to be conducted today for sure I will vote for him.
“Leaders comes Leaders goes, but South Sudan as a country will remain foever”

Tongun,
what does kokora means when south Sudan was divided into three regions? were we free during Khartoum era as now???
currently you are first class citizen in your own country but before, Khartoun does not consider us as human beings. please let us be sincere of what we used to tell our people.

Lo Loyuong,
Leaders come and go. Time for Kiir to go will come. Though he has presided to this position as a result of the death of our great hero, we should not forget that he together with other liberators fought hard to bring us from slavery to salvation/independence. Whatever the case may be, we shall never, never reunite with the north. Forget.
Thank you

Canadian man! whatever you are, we have been in South Sudan since independence and how many times have you visited Juba to learn that our politics is leading to unity of two Sudans?
Be careful with your facts finding or else refrain from writing theories that you created/collected from Canadian bars.

Manyang,
you made me laugh. Is that a comments or a threats? Hope you are not living in past and bush mind-set. If this is how southerners can convey their notions then we need to start to learn how to have pleasant conversion. To me, you seems angry man which will do you no good at all.

That is a very smart writing. For sure this oil money is leading us into nowhere instead increasing division among us, power struggle, kill whoever tries to cut-off the fleshy chunk coming to the few who were malnourished almost their whole lives. They are now having a pot belly ” Borrowed from Ladu Gore” which to them seems healthy. During the wars the southerners were well united in one force.

the power wrangling within SPLM party has reshaped and redirected south sudan political direction, our leaders are much focusing on who is against who and who supports who? the author is explicitly clear, how Bashir behaves now a days was different from last year, he has gained political momentum to use SS as a safe harbor for his malicious games, and his success is imminent because our leaders become so submissive to Khartoum leadership. they have abandoned their priorities on how to make this fragile nation stable, only power becomes blueprint to accumulate wealth at expense of poor populace leaving them in a precarious situation.

Mr. John Kenyi,
that is why our brothers who were fighting when you were running around between neighboring countries or in northern Sudan during the war did not give up fighting so that they can enjoy years of malnourishment in their land now, as you said it.
Mading.

Although i agree with you that South Sudan will never reunite with the North even if Kiir wants it to happen, however i just want to remind you that not everybody is a first lady, Mary Ayen’s dish washers like you guys. I am saying this because all of you failed to see the obvious. I also failed to understand where 3 of you live. The president you are so proud of is a narrow minded and is looking inside the Box.
Was it not the president who gave an order to the minister of information Makui Lueth, to direct the media not to broadcast any program abuot Abyei ? Now Mukui is talking publicly that the government won’t recognize the referendum results. If you really understand what is going on, you would have known what he means. It means, the president had already sold Abyei to Jalaba.
So you better wash Ayen Mayardit’s dishes silently. Do not try to discredit this beautiful analysis by Mr. Collins Kepa

The leadership is compromised. There are too many secrets they are trying to hide that Bashir and Friends know full well. Therefore they are capable of being manipulated and blackmailed 100%. It doesn’t matter what a leader may or may not intend. If he or she is compromised, he or she is FULLY OWNED. Juba is fully owned.

It is rational article. It is telling what is ongoing at will by Kiir and his cohorts to commit whatever it takes to remain in power to enjoy power and resources we have got. However; intellectuals like us are able to read the situation in which we are. One of them is the one who wrote this article on which I made my humble comment.

Bashir left for alhujj when Salva Kiir arrived in Khortoum for a meeting concerning national issues, Kiir fear of Bashir is visible, he could not even take 30 mins to condemn the ongoing attack by rebels on innocent civilians during the summit, Kiir ordered those civilians to be disarmed last year, civilians disarmed either in lou Nuer counties of twic East were left without a protection, Kiir knows that, but didn’t care anyway. re-enforcing the police in the area would have been the way to go, but condemning the attack would have given a sense of comfort to the victims that their Government who disarmed them is there is such a difficult time. The condemnation that was issued after almost a week was useless & meaningless.

Your incurable trauma and senseless hostility for calling your true liberators (freedom fighters) as the so called liberators can actually describe your true colour as your heartless attitude blindly drives you against South Sudan Leadership.
I ‘ve learnt one thing from you and your likes who’re also regular writers on this web, I came to realize that some of you felt guilty and jealous about this historical achievement in which South Sudan was liberated in your absence, your so called South Sudan’s New Liberators is absolutely too late to implements your call for another liberation after 21 years of liberation struggles because you people are so naive and weak to do that as we all know that talking is quite different from an application.
Anyway I will be waiting for that day of your liberation from within so that I can also have a chance to discredit your achievement by defaming your movement as the So Called exactly the same way as you put it such that you can feel the pain and consequences of denying well recorded facts in a braod light simply because south sudan didn’t brought Collins, Sheikh Elhag, Tongun AW joseph and so many likes from where they ‘ve been hiding to save your dear life so that you can become the new masters of what you ‘ve never sow or been part of from the day of its inception.
No doubt you people will run mad as soon as you fail to seek for your medical attention for further counselling.
South Sudan is really full of professional liars and a slave-minded humans.

Collins,
what truths would you tell me when am residing in South Sudan while you are a lost boy living in one of European Countries. our president Salva Kiir though you term him as primary four leaver, is more better and has natural wisdom compared to those traitors of Dr. Riek And Lam whom you think will one time governed South Sudan. this bunch of traitors and your likes will never come to power in this nation. yes, Riek and Lam were SPLM/A members but due to their greed for power, they ran to Khartoum and formed their ally forces to fight SPLM/A but they were terribly defeated by mighty SPLA forces.
Collins, i have no personal grudge with you but this is not the way of how we should change the system by abusing leaders.

folks, why do you confused liberation with the present failures? yes, it is true that Salva Kiir fought along with several million southerners. millions died the struggle, and sadly, the children of the brave souls that made the ultimate sacrifice for this nation of ours, are now stranded as street children.
Kiir’s present failures do no count again the gallant efforts put forth by our great SPLA fightes during the war time.
the fact of the matter is, Kiir is a weak is a leader, and MR. Collin is very spot on, on all the points made i am not entirely sure abut Riek, but, it is for certain that Al Bashir and the rest of his cohorts up north, hated Pagan Amum and they wanted him off of the negotiation team

Kepa, your analysis is actually right. However, I envision this! Those who plot to fail the people of SS will not live long because our country is bigger than them. Kiir is an accidental president, he is bound to die accidentally if he ever acts against our interest. So far he has failed and nothing is expected out of him again. He is just a failed president, I know it, you know it, no matter what argument is presented by his cohorts. Let’s all wait to prepare to lay his soul to rest in peace and historians will do the job of judging him as a failed president, for I know history alone will judge Kiir but not his tribalist supporters.

Thank you for writing this detail oriented and impressive article. I believe Kiir handed over South Sudan to Bashir secretly. If South Sudanese are going to make a mistake by giving Kiir another chance of presidency, then South Sudan will be shrunk and become too small. You see now Sudan government took most parts of Unity State, Upper Nile, and some many different regions of Warrap and Western Bar-El-Gazal states, but our president never condemn the Sudan government actions.
Unity state has been bombed by the Sudan government almost every three months but the president never condemn the bombing.
In addition, the Ethiopian government now took most parts of Pochala land with exception of only Pochala town and claim it their territory. Under Kiir presidency South Sudan is in the brink of loosing so much of its territories. Kiir and his supporters are double blind human beings who will never sense reality and the difficulties the South Sudanese are going through.

Colin,
your argument is in place. I also thinks that, the more Kirr and Bashir are associating , discussing and implementing the policies of the two nations, South Sudan will end up rule like the North with full “Sheria Law”. Make no mistake that, we cannot go back after long bloody period of fighting to lives our way and yet the leaders tying new nation with old one. Its sad to see it happening.

For those of you who yawn and defending current government approach to all issues pertaining South Sudan, you should ask yourself simple question such as, are we better off today as compare to prior to the current governing system? How many life do we used to loose before current regime?

All I’M saying is that, Khartoum government system didn’t do any good to southerners as whole and the Khartoum regime was after natural resources in south and that’s all. The Khartoum regime never dream of developing as its region but, they used resources and at the same time reject and alienated. So, these are reasons why southerners rebelled against Khartoum government to have their own government system and control their own natural resources. We were hopping that, development was needed badly particularly the road infrastructure to join 10 States, counties and payam and Bomas. We rebelled and fought to get a grips of our own nation, have our our national flag that reflex us. That never happen after CPA and its so sad to see our own people suffer under our own leader. People like Abraham Issiah got killed because he voiced what he perceived immoral. It’s sad and worse than Northern Regime.

In addition to that, given how much money we got from donors, and some western nations to start our way of living and plus our crude oil money. At least, Every 10 state should have one modern hospital, College or university and several primary schools.

Surprisingly, none of these happened. More tribal clashes with polices, army, wildlife all sit and watching because they lack proper financial benefits to do their job as national public figure workers. How on earth you kirr defenders out there are happy to see people dying as it happen in places like Jogolie and others places? Even those supporters who have sat in higher education level still support someone who cannot deliver what people of the citizens needs leave alone university but security for all. South Sudanese citizens gave their rights and privileges to government and in return, government will provide protection to everyone regardless.

We are doom and if the trend continues as it does, we, the citizens will have to storm Juba-Kirr government’s and put real government run by people whom employed by entire southern citizens. It’s on my view that’s only way forward.

i think the editor of this forum is Dinka, because he/she only favors Dinka comments when they are abusing leaders from other tribes, or he/she politically affiliated with Dr. kirr; seriously this is now third time editor failed to publish my comments.
thank you editor, but you need stop bias-ness against others.

I regret to say that the Editor in chief is tired of publishing the comments which does not make sense to him and others on this forum anymore. All you can write on this forum is Riek Machar, president Kiir and Dinka and the website was not designed for this kind of rubbish. Smart up and send good articles or comments. They will be published. What will you write about when Riek Machar does not become a president and kiir and Dinka is out of the government of South Sudan?

Woot & Nyesi,
We are not confusing liberation and failure of the president as some of you may misperceive it, but we are telling our today’s South Sudanese organisers/Hijackers (the self-proclaimed South Sudanese’s New Caretakers) who’ve just by surprise realized the importance of South Sudan recently that President Kiir is one the founders of this Nation and that he had spent most of his dear time following this right with a vision to free South Sudanese from oppression.

So I don’t see the reason why some unknown folks emerge today and claim that they care much about South Sudan to the extent of accusing one of the core contributors for this country to ‘ve again taken back or reunited the two countries simply because he (the presiden Kiir) has hosted counter part Bashir to settle some bilateral relationship for the welfare of their citizens.

If i am not wrong, then I would like to remind you by throwing these few questions;
1. Is this not the same web where most of you’re blaming President Kiir for his abrupt shutdown of oil?
2. What did you say about Higlig (Pan-thou) invasion? I believe people blame him and even term it as a senseless war which has claimed the lives of innocent citizens in S.S.
3. How about the small war that was waged in Abyei, what was your intake or view after we’re defeated by SAF of Sudan?
4. What’re the positions of AU, UNSC, Bashir and other International Organisations in regards to the Abyei current unilateral vote’s results and before its inception and even during the proposal??
5. Why do you want to play with the conduct of government business yet you guys claim to have acquired a good standard both in education, world politics and the governance as well?
6. So how do you want South Sudan to be driven with your confusing articles and comments?
7. I know one of your main focus is to remove Kiir (Dinka President or the SO CALLED SOUTH SUDAN LIBERATORS) from the power but does he (president) really deserve those fake accusations and unstudied complaints just for the sake of degrading his legacy?
8. Are you people really aware that president Kiir is also making some decisions based on your unintended views?

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO INSINUATE APART FROM TELLING KIIR TO LEAVE THE POST OF PRESIDENCY?
OTHERWISE, YOU PEOPLE ARE NOT WHO CLAIM TO BE BUT YOU CAN BE LABELLED AS THE GROUP OF OPPORTUNISTS, TRIBALISTS AND NEPOTISTS WHO ARE POWER-GREEDY WITH NO INTEREST TO YOUR COUNTRY OR SPIRIT OF NATIONALISM AS SHOWN BY YOUR NEGATIVE OR BIASED ARTICLES IN WHICH EVERYTHING DONE BY PRESIDENT KIIR IS ALWAYS CONSIDERED TO BE NOTHING.
ONLY GOD WILL SAVE US FROM THIS HYPOCRITICAL & DECEITFUL CULTURE IN SOUTH SUDAN.